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Why has it gone wrong?

Why has it gone wrong?

Spav

Spav

Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
83
Location
Down Sowth
So on 22nd Feb we were in a good 6th position, 56 pts and a healthy goal difference of +9.
Since then we have played 7, lost 5 drawn 2, taken 2 points and seen our goal difference disappear.
Why?
The owner is the same.
The manager is the same.
The players are basically the same.
What has happened to cause such a stark and calamitous collapse in form?

I have no answers, perhaps the clever people on here can identify what has changed.
 
For whatever reason the players are not the same.They are frightened rabbits.Some are coming to their final year of contract and have possibly had enough of the lack of ambition from the owner so are going through the motions.The manager appears to have run out of ideas and makes questionable decisions in an attempt to stabilise the ship or it is a deliberate tactic on his part to secure release as he has had enough of the constraints imposed upon him.
Plus of course the tactic of IF they don't score we can't lose which is increasingly prevalent and doesn't work.
Beyond that I don't know.
 
raefil said:
The first clues of what was to come was on Oct 26th v Rovers, 1st half.
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That was poor but every team has a lapse every so often and we recovered even in that match with a bold first half substitution and a fighting display in the second half that culminated in our goal of the season. But you could argue we have slipped back in ways that match highlights - particularly through over-use of Gallagher who has faded perceptibly over the second half of the season though you could add AN's now rather ineffectual in-match decision-making.
 
On the quest highlights danny cowley said we played against a very strong preston side! And Clinton Morrison said something along the lines preston have done brilliant to get where they have on the budget and will be hoping to keep hold of alex neil for next year colin Murray backed him up said he will want to build for another crack next season, that's what outside looking in thinks of pne, fair enough just need that striker, at least we're not in Wigan's shoes!!
 
Sambora said:
On the quest highlights danny cowley said we played against a very strong preston side! And Clinton Morrison said something along the lines preston have done brilliant to get where they have on the budget and will be hoping to keep hold of alex neil for next year colin Murray backed him up said he will want to build for another crack next season, that's what outside looking in thinks of pne, fair enough just need that striker, at least we're not in Wigan's shoes!!
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On the other thread talk is basically like he's already left the club. I'm totally pissed off, being a north end supporter at times is painful as fuck. It never comes off when it matters. I want Neil to stay, but get back to his more aggressive and developed tactical approach, and forget about the opposition, set up for us to win not to deal with the oppositions strengths.
 
We`ve struggled to get going again after every break under Neil, when Covid came along it was much longer, and the expected crash was predictably, proportionately, worse.
 
DJ in the form of his life and a freakishly high number of penalties in the first third of the season papered over the cracks somewhat.

Neil appears obsessed with the opposition and trying to stop them and have everyone tracking back to the edge of our box. When we do get the ball we are usually woefully short of quick attacking options going forward.

Earlier in the season we hit a purple patch of balancing between tracking back and attacking purposefully when the opportunity was there. For some reason we have lost this ability.

Our midfield and wide players create few chances for the striker, the full backs don’t overlap and put crosses in the box, they used to! Fisher and Hughes ranked pretty highly as championship full backs a couple of seasons ago. Yes the strikers have been abysmal this season, the lack of service / creativity is partly to blame as is the personnel upfront not being up to the job of playing as a lone striker in AN ‘system’

Neil no longer makes bold attacking substitutions or tactical changes to try and win games, he did with some success when he first arrived at PNE. It’s now Graysonesque negativity and frustration without the quality of Garner / Beckford or McGeady to win games.
 
Henry Weston said:
I think a major factor is what seems to be an ever increasing obsession by the manager to concentrate on combatting our opponents supposed strengths/set-up rather than playing to our own strengths. This leads to negativity in our play, stifles our players and adversely affects their confidence.
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California_PNE said:
On the other thread talk is basically like he's already left the club. I'm totally pissed off, being a north end supporter at times is painful as fuck. It never comes off when it matters. I want Neil to stay, but get back to his more aggressive and developed tactical approach, and forget about the opposition, set up for us to win not to deal with the oppositions strengths.
Click to expand...



An obsession with keeping a clean sheet ( see yesterdays Managerial comments ) will not catapult us into a strong play off position. All it will do ( and has done for quite a while now ) is keep us treading water before we drop ( have dropped) out of the race altogether. What on earth is the point of getting this far if you aren't going to " give it a go" during the run in?..... We don't even look like we want a playoff spot let alone win them and we've been very fortunate in not dropping even further down the table in my view......... I'm tempted to say that it's contrived but what sort of loonies( Manager and players ) would do that? ....

If we were playing at full tilt but got slapped a few times then I reckon we would all accept that but this finale is like watching pre season friendlies... It's bloody annoying and we all know we are better than this..
 
Spavin Stardust said:
the full backs don’t overlap and put crosses in the box
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Oddly one of the few bright spots in the last few matches has been Rafferty's crossing - it was very good in the first half against Derby and we might have got something if Stockley had been on the receiving end. We are OK at right-back but Hughes though defensively solid simply does not have the pace or agility to support the attack to any great effect.
 
ernest said:
Oddly one of the few bright spots in the last few matches has been Rafferty's crossing - it was very good in the first half against Derby and we might have got something if Stockley had been on the receiving end. We are OK at right-back but Hughes though defensively solid simply does not have the pace or agility to support the attack to any great effect.
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Rafferty can hold his head up high. He's done everything that's been asked of him and given 100% to the cause. It's assumed he's basic and technically poor but he's been better than Hughes this season and Hughes is a better player who's playing way below his best, needs a rocket.
 
The problem could have been fixed in the last transfer window but it wasn’t. Can’t blame Neil for that.
 
California_PNE said:
On the other thread talk is basically like he's already left the club. I'm totally pissed off, being a north end supporter at times is painful as fuck. It never comes off when it matters. I want Neil to stay, but get back to his more aggressive and developed tactical approach, and forget about the opposition, set up for us to win not to deal with the oppositions strengths.
Click to expand...
Feel the same Cali but we've been saying this for months now an on what we've witnessed, there's no sign of AN going back to what produced a winning mentality
 
Previously hard working, cohesive unit that lacked any real quality in truth have hit the buffers and will end up in just about the right, if not marginally better than expected position, top half.

Not a Prem player anywhere near imho and talk about Pearson and Davies even at their best being Prem players wide of the mark.

For me since the re-start they have had their eyes on the beach and not the prize.
 
Spav said:
So on 22nd Feb we were in a good 6th position, 56 pts and a healthy goal difference of +9.
Since then we have played 7, lost 5 drawn 2, taken 2 points and seen our goal difference disappear.
Why?
The owner is the same.
The manager is the same.
The players are basically the same.
What has happened to cause such a stark and calamitous collapse in form?

I have no answers, perhaps the clever people on here can identify what has changed.
Click to expand...
There are no clever people on this forum so sorry, we can't answer your question.
 
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